Author's Notes: Okay, hope everyone had a nice holiday and here we are with a 2-page longer than usual chapter.
Oh, and can I just note one little thing? Cussing at me or using caps lock in your reviews doesn't make me review any faster and actually irritates me a whole lot, okay?
Anyways, hope you all enjoy this next chapter :)
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I'd never been the patient type. I hated waiting around for anything. Waiting for work to be over, waiting for my father to leave the house, waiting day after day and year after year for a chance at freedom.
But now I waited for a different reason.
Sesshoumaru had proved to be nothing but a great annoyance to my patience ever since I met him. The avoidant answers. The wall of ice I encountered every time I reached out. And just the fact I knew I would always be waiting for any possible hints of his feelings towards me.
That waiting, and wondering, had led me up to this point. The moment when I was finally given the only small answer I needed.
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Chapter 30: Call Waiting
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The dream castle had finally been assembled, and Kagura and Sesshoumaru hoped that the extra pieces they still had remaining wouldn't be a problem in the stability of it. But now with the newly erected kingdom, Rin had declared it necessary to find a proper ruler for it. This, of course, being ordained via her Princess Dress-Up game.
After much convincing, and some cute pouting on Rin's part, the young girl finally got both Sesshoumaru and Kagura to agree to play as well. Needless to say, neither were very fond of the plastic earrings, necklaces and various other 'Princess' accessories you used to play the game.
Rounding the last corner of the playing board, Sesshoumaru moved his small pink piece unto the final square.
"Now what?" He questioned, looking to the young girl.
After reaching over to the box of accessories, Rin dug out a large jeweled plastic crown and ceremonially placed it atop Sesshoumaru's head.
"You won, now you're the Queen," She explained with a smile.
As expected, he reacted only slightly, the light traces of a frown barely noticeable. As Sesshoumaru reached up to remove it, Rin snagged up a smaller crown for herself.
"I'll be the Princess-- ah, Sesshoumaru," She paused on seeing the white-haired man attempting to remove the crown, "If you want to make someone else be Queen then you have to have a ceremony to give the crown to them."
He looked from Rin, who was already wearing her Princess crown, then to Kagura. Nonchalantly, he removed the crown from his head and sat it on Kagura's.
"Now you have to give a speech," Rin urged.
"Here. You take it," The eloquent 'speech' was made.
"No, no, no- that's all wrong!"
The small girl picked up another crown and demonstrated on her plush toad.
"See. I, Rin, hereby crown Jaken as ruler of this land. Be it known from this day forth that all shall bow to him."
Sesshoumaru frowned and Kagura stifled a laugh at the predicament the white-haired man was caught in.
"He wouldn't have to give a speech if he was the King, right?" Kagura innocently posed the question.
Playing right along, Rin nodded, "Oh that's right, the King wouldn't need to give a speech if he's just giving a nice crown to his Queen."
Giving a knowing glance towards the both of them, Sesshoumaru's frown deepened.
"I didn't know kings had pink crowns."
At that, the brown-haired girl couldn't contain her laughter any further. Shaking her head, Kagura didn't even realize she'd began to reach over to Sesshoumaru to remove the game's prop jewelry from him.
"You'd make one strange King with that on," She said withholding her own laughter at how ridiculous he looked.
"It's befitting of a strange Queen," He countered, not fully registering that he'd given into to Rin's setup.
Smiling slightly at that, and tossing her crown into the box, Kagura couldn't help but feel more relaxed than she usually did.
"We make one unusual royal family, don't we?"
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, and then fell into a more thoughtful expression as he caught sight of Rin's smile.
Stifling a yawn, the young girl began to put up the game. With everything straightened up, she went towards her sleeping bag.
"You know, it's nice to have a family like this," Rin said sweetly looking between the two others.
Kagura blinked, then glanced towards Sesshoumaru- who as usual, had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Can you sleep down here too, Miss Kagura? Sesshoumaru always does when I stay over."
"I guess that's up to him," She replied, not sure if he would allow the usual sleeping arrangement and not certain where she could comfortably sleep with her injuries.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, then turned towards the stairs.
"More pillows will be required," He said simply before retreating up the staircase.
Once certain that he was out of earshot, Kagura turned to Rin with a few unanswered questions.
"How can he sleep down here on this tiny couch?"
Rin rolled out her pink sleeping bag out and shrugged.
"It folds out into a bed. But, it's bigger than it looks."
Kagura's shock faded into a sly glance towards the stairs.
"Oh, so you did have somewhere else I could have slept that night, didn't you? Too worried to let me sleep upstairs alone or risk me sleeping on the couch with my injury being as bad as it was? Your little façade of being uncaring is becoming more and more transparent, Sesshoumaru."
On seeing him returning down the stairs with an ample supply of pillows and blankets and his pajamas on, the black-haired woman hid her bemused expression.
"Do you need help folding out the bed?" She emphasized pointedly.
His eyebrow quirked up before he frowned on realizing what she was noting.
"I shall need to put blankets over the rough springs," He replied, as if that explained everything.
Stepping back, she slowly edged towards the stairs.
"I'll go change then, if you don't need to come worry over me doing that."
His glare in reply was enough for her, and Kagura retreated up the stairs hiding a pleased smile until she was out of sight.
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The living room was dark aside from one light near the sofa that remained lit so Kagura could find her way back down the stairs in the dark. Rin was snuggled up inside her sleeping bag and Sesshoumaru had just finished laying a few blankets over the fold-out bed to keep the springs from affecting Kagura's side.
The black-haired woman came back downstairs and paused at the sight of Sesshoumaru leaning over the young girl.
"Is the temperature suitable?"
"It's warm enough, thanks," The girl responded, her ability to decipher his strange speech coming almost naturally.
Walking the rest of the way over to the bed, Kagura said not a word as she went to lay down, the pillows having already been laid out for her comfort.
Lights all been dimmed now, save one small nightlight in the corner that Kagura figured was put in place for these times Rin visited. She was just about to speak up when Sesshoumaru leaned down to place small kiss on the child's forehead.
"Goodnight, Sesshoumaru," The girl responded, smile in her voice.
He began to sit down on the opposing side of the fold-out bed, but Rin stopped him.
"Aren't you going to kiss Miss Kagura goodnight too?"
Sesshoumaru's eyebrows narrowed, yet he remained calm.
"Is such a thing necessary?" He paused, realizing he'd have to voice his earlier thoughts on the matter aloud, "She's not a child."
Rin just smiled innocently, "I know, but Dad always kisses Mom goodnight. You know- one of those kisses on the lips."
Seeing where this was leading, Sesshoumaru just glared. But Rin, as Izayoi had warned, wouldn't give up so easily.
"I'll look away if you're embarrassed."
"Rin. Go to sleep."
The young girl rolled over, and put her hands over her eyes.
"See, I'm not looking."
"Rin."
She quickly reached down and moved Jaken to where his plush eyes were facing away.
"Jaken's not looking either."
"Rin…" Sesshoumaru's tone warned.
"I won't even peek, I promise."
The white-haired man just glanced towards Kagura then back to Rin as the room went silent.
Then, as she stifled a giggle, Rin piped up once more.
"Miss Kagura's gonna feel left out if you gave me a kiss goodnight and not her. It's not fair and Mom always tells me that it's not nice if you play favorites."
"If she's not looking then how would she know if you did or didn't..." Sesshoumaru cut his thought short, his conscious level of thinking perplexed by the fact he seemed to be so hesitant to kiss the woman. "Why is there a need to avoid this?" He asked, and when a tiny voice inside his head mentioned something about 'then you'll have to admit your feelings' he knew why.
If he went through with this, nothing would be the same afterwards.
Kagura, on the other hand, was torn between remaining silent and backing up Rin's request. Thinking it over, she figured the silent route was the best.
"If I encourage Rin's idea- he'll never cave. But if she persists…well, who knows." Hiding a frown, she inwardly sighed, "Great, now I'm sitting here like Sleeping Beauty waiting for him to kiss me. Yura would have such a laugh at how quickly I went from cynic to sap over one stupid guy…"
It was about then, that Rin began to hum to herself. It was an incessant tune that repeated over and over, and it killed off any deep thoughts Sesshoumaru or Kagura might have been having at the moment.
"If I don't do something. She'll never go to sleep," Sesshoumaru noted.
"Go on Rin, go to sleep. The ice hasn't melted enough for him to do anything so bold…" Kagura thought, her tiny hope dwindling as the seconds passed.
But to both girls' surprise, Sesshoumaru stood and began to walk over to Kagura's side of the fold-out bed.
"He's…what the hell is he up to?"
His eyebrows were furrowed, deep in thought, as his steps brought him ever-nearer to Kagura's location. Finally, he stopped beside the bed and kneeled down.
"I can no longer push this question aside," Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he put forth his cold façade.
"This is only being done to silence the child," His hushed voice explained, leaning over her.
But the dark-haired woman lying beneath him knew better.
"I'm sure it is," She muttered, her tone indicating that she was aware that it wasn't the only reason.
"That bastard. This is probably revenge for teasing him earlier. He thinks he's so smart. Use the kid's idea to play innocent and give me one little peck on the cheek, or if he's daring enough, on the lips. Just enough to taunt me; to let me know what I can not and will not have because he's too frozen to let anyone get that close."
But Kagura's inner tirade drew to a rushed close as his unexpectedly warm lips pressed down against hers.
Instead of the false pretense of a kiss, or even perhaps a chaste one, that Kagura expected, she noted that Sesshoumaru seemed to be taking this one action quite seriously for once.
And as he withdrew, she found herself even more perplexed by the strange, thoughtful expression on his face.
His golden eyes lingered on her a moment more before he began to turn to leave. As expected, he'd gotten his answer quite clearly.
"I know now," He paused, almost in disbelief at his own deduction, "Why there is such a tension between us."
But on having the answer he sought, the prospect of sleeping with that very woman was quite unsettling to his nerves. This was uncharted territory for him, and he wasn't going to venture forth into it without a map.
Kagura, on the other hand, wasn't about to let him walk away so easily.
"Okay, so Sesshoumaru just…well, he just kissed me. And now he's trying to slink off upstairs or to his office. This is just…well damn, what the hell is he thinking? And now he's running off? I don't think so!"
Reaching out before he was too far away, she grabbed his wrist.
"Wait."
He turned, thoughtful expression set firm on his face as he looked to her.
"It's…" Her mind raced, trying to think up the words to bring him back to her, "It's okay. You can stay."
Sesshoumaru seemed unfazed by this and remained frozen where he stood. Seeing as he wasn't about to give in, Kagura tugged him gently in her direction.
She didn't have to say a word; Sesshoumaru could see it all clearly in her eyes. She needed him, wanted him there; and she wasn't about to let him leave her side so easily.
At first, he shrugged her reaction off at the previous night's nightmare, attributing any such longing to be with him as a fear of loss. But the more he looked at her, the less likely that simple reason seemed to be.
Kagura took a deep breath, "It's now or never. If I let him run off now, he'll go and refreeze his heart away. This is my only chance… I've got to…I've got to let him know somehow…"
Hesitantly, she slid her hand down his wrist, and moved her hand to clasp his. Taking a deep breath, and hoping the repercussions weren't too much, she loosely intertwined her fingers with his.
"Stay," The single word barely escaped her lips, but she hoped it said more than she could.
Kagura sat up and scooted over to encourage him, her movement halting as he sat down beside her. Their eyes locked and time seemed to freeze at that second. The ice prince had cast his spell on the entire room, and Kagura knew it was up to her to break it.
"What…what were you thinking about?"
His eyes diverted, "I'm not certain."
Biting back her temper at the usual avoidant answer, Kagura pressed forward.
"Was it… about me?"
Sesshoumaru looked back to her for a second, then glanced away again.
"It's raining," He remarked absently, the light sound of raindrops hitting the windows being brought to attention.
"Sesshoumaru…"
He glanced back to her, his expression still leaving nothing to be read from it.
"You didn't answer my question," Kagura said simply, her voice lower now and not wanting to disturb Rin.
"I gave you an answer," Sesshoumaru replied, his eyes once again veering away.
"You just said that it was…" Her voice rose with a tinge of irritation, but it slowly faded back into the silence as it dawned on her.
"Rain. Ice melted…it becomes…He means; he's letting his guard down? About…what?"
"It's…raining?" She questioned tentatively.
He said nothing and Kagura leaned her head down a bit to try and peer up under his bangs.
"I should go."
Once again, he began to leave, but she stopped him.
"Let it rain. I can sleep in a puddle if I have to," Kagura countered.
Sesshoumaru knew then- that like Rin, Kagura wasn't going to give in easily; so much like before, he resigned himself to his fate and sat back down. He watched her quietly as she shifted the pillow along her side and despite the normal chill about his heart demanding a retreat, he laid down as well.
"You're a very stubborn woman," He remarked, his normal bored tone firmly set into place and not hinting at any change within.
"And you're a very stubborn man," Kagura retorted, pointedly resting her head on his chest and once again shifting the pillow against her injured side.
Sesshoumaru frowned, "Is this really necessary?"
"What? Rin has the only other pillow…"
"I meant…this," Reaching up he indicated Kagura's hand, where she'd laid it over his heart.
She just smirked, "I just was seeing if your heart was beating any faster than normal."
"I know mine is," Her thoughts remarked.
Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to retort but another voice butted in.
"It's okay Jaken; they'll go to sleep soon. They just need to resolve their adult problems."
Both Kagura and Sesshoumaru darted their eyes over towards the girl the thought had been sound asleep.
And simultaneously, they both muttered a reply.
"Rin. Go to sleep."
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Preview for Chapter 31:
Sesshoumaru has gotten his answer, but as it comes time for Kagura to finally show up at his work as secretary, who knows what's in store for them next.